1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to a low-inductance, low-resistance electrical connector for making a connection between a high speed, high power consuming integrated circuit module and its power supply.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the development of higher levels of integration in integrated circuits (ICs), power requirements have increased. This is particularly true for current microprocessor and associated integrated circuits or chips recently developed. These chips, which are operating at higher speeds, require and consume greater amounts of power than previously required.
A microprocessor and its associated IC devices, such as a cache, are typically mounted on a board or a module. Such an IC module plugs into an electrical connector on a motherboard that has power contacts in the form of pins retained therein to deliver power from a power supply to this IC module.
However, current microprocessors have been designed to consume a large amount of power and to operate at a low operating voltage, e.g., 3.1 volts, which means that the current supplied to the IC module has become particularly relatively high. It is expected that future microprocessors will operate at a voltage as low as 1 volt and will have a current demand up to 80 amps. As a result, it is necessary to establish a low-resistance, low-inductance path between the power supply and the IC module.
Since conventional connectors have power contacts generally having a small cross-sectional area, inductance effects, resistance losses, and temperature rise due to Joule heating are significant and result from the large resistance of the power contacts. Therefore, an electrical connector with improved power contacts is desirable to meet high current, low-inductance, low temperature rise requirements in power applications.
Furthermore, in conventional connectors, the power contacts are made of copper alloys such as C194 and C195 (Unified Numbering System designation being applied). These copper alloys are formed by adding other metals such as tin, beryllium, and nickel to copper, giving the resulting alloy improved strength and elasticity. However, these alloys have an electrical conductivity only 10 to 30 percent of that of pure copper. When there is a demand for high current carrying capacity, low-inductance, and low temperature rise depending on low-resistance, these copper alloys are no longer suitable. Therefore, a high conductivity material, such as pure copper, must be selected for the power contacts to optimize electrical performance so that the disadvantage of the conventional power contacts can be overcome. However, as pure copper is relatively weak in strength, a new and novel arrangement is required to provide the pure copper power contacts with sufficient contact normal force, which is necessary for making a reliable electrical connection with the IC module.
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing an electrical connector which has power transmitting contacts stamped from pure copper sheets and a mechanism providing these power contacts with sufficient normal force to engage with an IC module mating with the connector. This arrangement establishes a low-inductance, low-resistance power delivery path between a power supply and the IC module.